Daoyi Zhilüe


Dao Yi Zhi Lue or Dao Yi Zhi which may be translated as A Brief Account of Island Barbarians or other similar titles, is a book written c. 1339 by Yuan Dynasty Chinese traveller Wang Dayuan recounting his travels to over a hundred places in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa. The book was written in present-day Sri Lanka. It described the weather, products, people, and customs of the places that Wang Dayuan visited.
The timeline for Wang Dayuan's life and travels is:
1311 Born
1330 Sailed for the first time from Quanzhou
1334 Returned to China
1337 Sailed for the second time from Quanzhou
1339 Returned to China
Andaya and Andaya write that Dao Yi Zhi Lue provides more information on areas east of the Malay Peninsula than any other Yuan dynasty source. According to the postscript Wang Dayuan visited all the places described. However, Park notes that 90% of the text is devoted to Southeast Asia and that Wang does not give details of his route and itinerary to West Asia. However, Deng states that Wang Dayuan's account is consistent with later Ming Dynasty accounts of Zheng He's travels. There is currently no English translation of the book but the Chinese version can be read with the NTI Reader. Partial translations however are available.